


so shake him off

by kerrykhat



Series: shake it off [2]
Category: The Avengers (2012), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Challenge Response, Community: avengers_land, Crossover, Gen, Mentions of past child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-18
Updated: 2012-09-18
Packaged: 2017-11-14 12:03:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/515046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kerrykhat/pseuds/kerrykhat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a way, he sees both him and Natasha in Artemis, and yet, she’s something completely different from either of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	so shake him off

**Author's Note:**

> Response to the crossover challenge at avengers_land over on LJ.
> 
> I have a lot of feelings about Clint and Artemis, so there will probably be more in this verse at some point.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Natasha materialized out of the shadows of the rooftop where Clint sat, watching Artemis and Paula’s apartment the night after he gave her the new bow.

“My ideas are nothing but good,” Clint countered, looking back to smirk at her. 

“Rio,” was Natasha’s only reply as she came to sit next to him, ignoring his groan. 

“I thought we agreed never to talk about that again,” Clint muttered, hanging his head. 

“I agreed to nothing,” Natasha shot back, before turning back to the original subject. “Do you think reaching out to her is the right thing to do?”

It’s a loaded question. When rumors of the mysterious Harlem archer first reached SHIELD’s ears, he was ready to leave it to their not so gentle handling, despite his curiosity. It wasn’t until he remembered that Paula Crock, a former mercenary he helped take down years ago, was living in the area that he started looking into things. It wasn’t until he dug a little deeper that he realized it was Paula’s youngest that was taking matters into her own hands and trying to protect her home. 

“She’s got red in her ledger, Tasha,” he answered quietly, remembering the conversation between Artemis and her mom when he went to their apartment last week. “She’s just trying to clean it out.”

“It’s not her ledger to wipe clean,” Natasha replied, but without any heat. 

“Sins of the father, Nat. It’s hers as much as his.” Clint’s tangled with Lawrence a few times, and from what he knows of the man, there’s no way in hell he’d want him near a child. Sportsmaster is a cruel, sick son of a bitch, and without Paula there to possibly run interference while she was in jail, life at home must have been hell for Artemis. Scars don’t always have to be visible, after all.

In a way, he sees both him and Natasha in the younger girl: trained to be an assassin by an abusive asshole of a father, with an absent older sibling. And yet, she’s something completely different from either of them. Artemis is out there on her own, doing her best to protect others with what she’s been given. She’s a hero, or at least, that’s what she’s trying to be, working to counter her family’s legacy the best she can. 

“I guess,” Natasha answered with a shrug. “What does SHIELD think of facilitating her activities?”

“You know, that didn’t come up in the conversation I had with Hill the other day.” All he’d told her was that he’d made contact, and that he didn’t see Artemis as a threat. He hadn’t been told to stop Artemis, even if it had been implied, and unless she did something completely fucked up, he didn’t see any reason to stop her. The bow and arrows he’d given here were from Stark, so it wasn’t like he was using company resources to do that. It wouldn’t be the most pleasant experience he ever had, but Clint was willing to defend his actions to Fury if it came to that. 

“Heads up,” Natasha commented as an arrow came flying toward them. Clint instinctively ducked and was reaching for his bow when he saw the arrow imbedded behind him, a piece of paper attached to it. Reaching back to grab it, he unrolled the paper and snorted at the message while Natasha read over his shoulder.

_Stop being a creep and either leave or come inside._

“Real cute, kid,” he called out at the open window across the street. “Shit!” he swore as the backlit figure drew back her bow again and another arrow followed the first.

_Bring your friend, too. Mom made extra pho._

“I haven’t had good pho in ages,” Natasha sighed, getting to her feet and offering Clint her hand. “Come. Introduce me to your new sidekick.”

Clint took Natasha’s hand and pulled himself up. “As much as I like the sound of that, I don’t think she’s anybody’s sidekick.” 

“Shame. You’d look cute in matching outfits,” Natasha commented, leading the way down the fire escape.

Clint just shook his head in resignation and followed her down.


End file.
